It is a huge privilege to join the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Wales. The Prime Minister has asked me to provide a strong voice for Wales at the Cabinet table and that is precisely what I am going to do.

The Welsh economy has made encouraging strides since this government came to office in 2010. In Wales we have seen record numbers of people going out to work with unemployment on a clear downward trend. Average earnings are also now increasing at twice the rate of the UK average after the sharp drop in wages that followed the 2008 crash.

The long-term economic plan put in place at the start of this government is working - and it’s working for Wales.

But I am clear about where this economic recovery is being forged and who is making it happen. Back in 2010, we knew that if we were to rebalance the economy and restore growth we had to empower our businesses. Straight away we took measures to make businesses more competitive. We cut national insurance contributions and corporation tax so that the UK now has one of the most competitive tax regimes anywhere in the world.

As a result, the engine room of the recovery in Wales - like across the rest of the UK - has been the private sector. Over the last year alone we have seen 47,000 more jobs created by business in Wales. I am absolutely determined to do all that I can to support Welsh business as it leads the economic recovery.

One of the keys to this is a constructive working relationship with Welsh government. It is clear that businesses across Wales want to see UK and Welsh governments working together effectively to deliver the investment our nation needs. Business wants political leaders at both ends of the M4 to focus together on how to secure the best outcomes for Wales. I am committed to doing exactly that and I hope Ministers in Welsh government will share this approach.

As a starting point, I have wasted no time in getting to work on the south Wales rail electrification project. I recognise that good infrastructure investment helps to power long-term economic growth. So I have already held early discussions with Welsh government and with the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin to try to resolve the difficulties involved in this financially and technically very challenging transport project. This work will continue.

I will also be using my time as Welsh Secretary to respond to the call from Welsh business for better and faster broadband.

Digital infrastructure is transforming the way we do business and connecting Wales ever more closely with fast-moving global markets. That is why UK government has invested nearly £70m in the Superfast Cymru project to provide homes and businesses in Wales with superfast broadband. But we must go further than this, whilst also ensuring that remote rural communities are not left behind. The UK government is committed to finding broadband solutions for the most challenging rural geography where lack of connectivity is holding business back. We are currently funding a series of pilot projects, including here in Wales, to test what works best.

This week’s good inward investment figures are a clear demonstration of how much Wales has to offer. The majority of this investment has been secured through the support of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) working collaboratively with Welsh government. As Secretary of State, I will be doing more to strengthen this relationship and to see further investment come to Wales.

Previously as the junior Minister, I worked hard to raise concerns about high energy costs affecting the competitiveness of Welsh industry. This will continue to be one of my priorities as Welsh Secretary. I will be working closely with my colleagues at the Department for Business and Treasury as we take forward measures to help those industries in Wales which are intensive energy users.

In less than 50 days time, Wales will host the largest gathering of world leaders ever on British soil. The NATO Summit represents a huge economic opportunity for us - an opportunity to showcase Wales as a strong, confident and outward-looking nation. We have plans for an investment summit later in November to harness the full potential the Summit will offer.

I am clear that if we want our nation to truly prosper, we need to be confident that we are maximizing every bit of skill and talent and potential we have. We all know that worklessness and dependency is a major problem in too many communities in

Wales. It is a tragedy for the individual lives affected and for our economy as a whole.

That is why this government’s ambitious welfare reform programme is such a key part of the longterm solution for the Welsh economy. Our welfare reforms are about expanding opportunity, restoring the value of work and making a positive difference to individual lives and whole communities. Just as I am determined to work with the Welsh government on strategic infrastructure investment, I believe that the two governments will need to find ways of working together far more productively to ensure that welfare reform has a transformational impact in Wales.

I want Wales to be a beacon of economic success. I want to see more people going out to work in a thriving private sector supported by world class infrastructure. We need to be positive and ambitious about Wales’s prospects. I share the concern of some in the business community who say we are in danger at times of settling for second best. I believe we should aim for the best - whether in terms of our infrastructure, our competitiveness, or the skills and productivity of our workforce.

As Secretary of State for Wales I want to use my time in office to help achieve as many wins for Wales as I can, and to help move Wales further along the pathway to prosperity. I am clear that to do this, I will need to work closely with both UK and Welsh Government colleagues. The day-to-day politics does not stop but we all need a longer strategic vision to work to.